Stairsteps to Answered Prayers

By Bishop Steven G. Thompson

God presents Himself in the Bible as being open and interested in hearing whatever concerns His children (James 5:13; 1 Pet. 5:7). He wants to hear whatever interests us, even the smallest, most insignificant details of our lives. Consequently, we should feel free to unburden our hearts and tell God anything and everything. He is, after all, the friend who sticks closer than a brother. Why do we not feel at liberty to converse with Him just as casually and comfortably as we would with our most intimate acquaintance?

To address this important phenomenon of talking to God, I felt the leading of the Lord to confront the matter of getting answers to our prayers. Unless you are a Pharisee standing in the marketplace, no one prays just to hear himself praying or to receive glory from man. No one prays not to receive a response. No one asks, not expecting to receive. Rather, prayers are prayed to be acknowledged and answered. Especially prayers without ceasing are made for responses, acknowledgment, and answers, without ceasing. Time and maturity have taught me that to pray without ceasing basically refers to recurring prayer, not nonstop talking. Thus, it is to be our way of life, as we should be continually in an attitude of prayer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9781546271390

Book preview

© 2019 Bishop Steven G. Thompson. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse: 12/20/2018

ISBN: 978-1-5462-7140-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-7139-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018914397

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter One

STANDING AT THE STEPS

STAIRSTEP #1

Chapter Two

STAIRSTEP #2

Chapter Three

STAIRSTEP #3

Chapter Four

STAIRSTEP #4

Chapter Five

STAIRSTEP #5

Chapter Six

THE LORD’S PRAYER

References

About The Author

Foreword

by

Karen Denise Reid, Ph.D

In this book, beloved pastor and teacher, Bishop Steven Thompson, explores five steps to answered prayers, while giving insights into each step and making the process attainable for everyday people. Indeed, I am humbled and honored to be a part of such an anointed project. Bishop Thompson and I met approximately 14 years ago as a result of my first published book. When he recently started contacting me again, this book was the common denominator that brought forth a divine reconnection. When I was asked to consider editing and formatting a manuscript that he had shelved for quite some time, it happened to be during a time when I was trying to turn-up the volume on my own prayer life. Yet, the intensity of this assignment did not really register with me until the final editing phase.

It was at this time that I was exhaustedly completing an eight-year doctoral program, and the week that God had put me on a seven-day prayer/fasting assignment to intercede for some other people. But how did I miss something so powerful in the first edits? A snippet of a coming attraction, Bishop explained in one of the chapters what David meant by walking through the valley of the shadow of death. While I am currently grieving over loved-ones with late-stage cancer, and personally dealing with lupus, lack, and major losses, he emphasized that our negatives are only shadows. And, we can actually relax in the fact that the shadow of a dog never bit anyone. The shadow of a gun never shot anyone. The shadow of a bill never put anyone in bankruptcy. Dear reader: IT’S ONLY A SHADOW! And the way to get rid of shadows is to stand directly under the SON. By this time, I was no longer editing sentences; I was ingesting WORD. That blessed me to the point of immediately wanting to share it on Facebook, but I waited. I’m just saying; these are the kind of nuggets that you can expect to grasp from this book.

Supported by Scriptures, Bishop Thompson’s five Stairsteps helped me to began producing results before my prayer assignment ever ended. Because this is exactly how I do it, another Scripture that really jumped off the pages at me was Matthew 6:6 (NKJV): "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." Since this small but power-packed book teaches you how to put a demand on the Word of God, please allow these simple steps to transform your life and bring peace and answers to even the worst situations. I’m telling you; if you tap-on-in, you won’t need anybody to help you get this next miracle. Began now, embracing your prayer potential, and owning God’s promises.

Acknowledgements

To God be the great glory for the things that He had done. I want to thank President Relda D. Owens Mathews and the Congress staff of the Missionary Baptist State Convention of Missouri, for the opportunity to be a presenter in the State Congress, where the idea of this book was birthed.

Additionally, I am blessed for the pastoral privilege to shepherd the greatest Baptist church congregation in the world, the Leonard Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis, MO.

And to my wife, Merlean, thanks for keeping me grounded. Thanks to my family and host of friends and co-hearts for provoking me to continue to do what I can to further the kingdom of God on earth. To everyone who reads this book, I pray that you will be as blessed reading it as I am to pen it.

Why don’t we as Christians pray more?  Is it because we don’t understand the logistics?  the reasoning? or the process?  Is it because we don’t know how soon or how long to expect results?  According to Stair Steps to Answered Prayers, the author gives us detailed instructions, great advice in a clear succinct, robust and detailed account of how to pray, when and for what; and even more, a verifiable account of God’s word and other resources that align with how, when and what we should pray for.  The author adds humor, hymns and personal experiences to help the reader understand the elements of prayer.  My understanding is that this literature was written by someone with a deep relationship and an in-tune walk with God and one who is committed to helping others develop a stronger, fruitful relationship with Him as well.

Stacy Rena’ Harmon, Daughter of the author,

Doctoral Candidate in Mgmt and Information Systems,

Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.

Introduction

Every time I feel the Spirit moving in my heart, I will pray (Nat